Sport

All Blacks v Argentina: Where it all went wrong

11:57 am on 11 August 2024

Analysis - It's a safe to say that one didn't go according to plan.

The All Blacks' 38-30 loss to the Pumas, which now stretches their inability to win in Wellington to an unbelievable six years, has raised some questions about scheduling tests there in the future - as well as more serious ones about just how the team is playing.

Read how the game unfolded here.

Plenty will be said about the low crowd turnout at Sky Stadium, but really the more worrying thing for Scott Robertson is how many of his match day 23 didn't show up either. Here's where things went wrong:

Handing the Pumas the golden chance

Agustín Creevy's match-winning try was a thing of brutal beauty, and it's fitting that his incredible 19-year test career went long enough to include such an important moment.

But only moments before, the Pumas watched on in amazement as two horror passes gifted them half the length of the field after a clean All Black lineout win.

Ardie Savea is a loose forward, not a halfback - made all the more puzzling because Cortez Ratima was standing right next to him - and it showed when his pass from the ruck went sailing over Damian McKenzie's head. Then McKenzie threw the wrong kind of no-look pass - one where none of the All Blacks were looking where the ball was going - and Rieko Ioane ended up tackled over his own goal line.

Rieko Ioane is tackled behind the try line during the All Black loss to Argentina. Photo: Kerry Marshall / www.photosport.nz

Lack of scrums

The strong scrum and its ability to garner penalties and field position has been the success story of the All Black season so far. The Pumas managed to circumvent that by simply avoiding having scrums for the first hour of the game.

Apart from wilfully giving up advantages, there wasn't much the All Blacks could do about it. Starting props Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax both were subbed before the first scrum even happened, which has to be some sort of record in test rugby.

Taking the foot off the gas

It felt like every time the All Blacks did something right, they'd immediately do something wrong to cancel it out. Two of McKenzie's penalty goals were followed with penalties to the Pumas straight from the resulting kick-off, which Santiago Carreras nonchalantly knocked through.

Mark Tele'a's try was met with the same result, so really it just came down to who could score twice in a row - and that was the Pumas in the last 10 minutes.

Argentina's Agustin Creevy celebrates a try during the Pumas' victory over New Zealand. Photo: Kerry Marshall / www.photosport.nz

Not enough composure on attack

Yes, Sam Darry's try was one of the best you'll see this season, but it came off broken play and some individual brilliance. There's nothing wrong with that, but it can't be relied upon to win test matches, especially when a lot of the All Black possession otherwise was spent trying to unsuccessfully find gaps along the halfway line. Anton Lienert-Brown's effort was built on patience and intelligent movement of the ball, however that sort of intent was rare otherwise.

Lineout woes

While the one aforementioned lineout passage that went horribly wrong was a good throw and clean take, it doesn't obscure the fact there were a couple of other absolute nightmares in a now worryingly troubled All Black area.

Asafo Aumua's lineout work has never been held in the highest regard and it played a big part in the crucial dying stages of the game, specifically when the All Blacks had one last roll of the dice after winning a breakdown penalty in their own 22. The throw and timing were so off no one even jumped, Creevy gratefully took another gift and the Pumas never let go of the ball again.